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Fox News
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Christopher Rich credits Reba McEntire for acting return after debilitating stroke left him unable to walk
Christopher Rich credited Reba McEntire for his return to acting after spending nearly a decade out of the spotlight. Rich, 71, who originally starred alongside the country music star in "Reba," appeared in McEntire's new show "Happy's Place" on Feb. 21. "I mean, I've basically taken the last decade off," Rich told Entertainment Tonight. "And if anybody was going to drag me out of the dark corner of the closet, it would be the redhead." Rich took a break from acting after suffering a stroke in 2018. "I feel so bizarre recovering from the stroke thing that I didn't even want to go out of my house for a lot of the time," he explained to the outlet. "But, [McEntire and Melissa Peterman] got me back out. They would invite me to parties and reunion things…" Rich and McEntire admitted they've spent a lot of time watching football together at the country music star's home with her boyfriend, Rex Linn. For Rich, the writers and producers of "Happy's Place" made him "feel safe" enough to "trot [his] broken body out again." "I love these two so much," Rich noted of McEntire and Peterman. "It means the world to me." Peterson and McEntire "were there from the beginning," Rich previously told People magazine. "I mean, they came to my hospital bed; they sent me gifts," he explained. "Melissa used to come over and bring me treats all the time in the hospital," he shares. "And she was such a great supporter." Right before his stroke, Rich starred in "The Christmas Trap" in 2018. He took on a role in "Spiked" in 2021 before appearing as a tattoo artist in the episode of "Happy's Place." The stroke left Rich unable to use the left side of his body. However, through physical therapy and rehab, the actor was able to learn to walk and talk again. "It's been a long journey," Rich told People about his recovery. "You know, I liken it to sort of climbing a marble facade of a building with your fingernails." "You make tiny little bits of progress, but you don't get up there very high."
USA Today
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Christopher Rich is 'really good,' reuniting with 'Reba' co-stars 7 years after a stroke
Hear this story On the eve of his return to TV, "Reba" star Christopher Rich is getting vulnerable about the health issues that kept him from acting in recent years. Rich, 71, reunites with "Reba" co-stars Melissa Peterman and Reba McEntire on Friday's episode of "Happy's Place." He told Us Weekly in an interview published Wednesday that he's feeling "really good" several years after experiencing a stroke and subsequent blood clots, which left him with limited mobility and a long road to recovery in their wake. "After my stroke and having a brain injury, it is like I got hit with an atomic bomb. So it all gets traumatized, and it is a hard reset," he told the outlet. "After I finally got out of the hospital, I was moving around again." He landed back in the hospital due to blood clots in his lungs and "debris in my heart." But "after surviving all of that crap, I'm feeling really, really good," he said. In his guest spot on "Happy's Place," Rich – who played Reba Hart's ex-husband Brock during the show's airing from 2001 to 2007 – takes on the role of a tattoo artist named Maverick who is also recovering from a stroke. "It's great to be able to be a disabled person and play a disabled person," Rich said. "I'm hoping that when some of this gets out there, that people that I've worked with in the past are going to say, 'OK, let's bring him back. We can work with him.'" Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Our chat with Reba:McEntire talks show 'Happy's Place,' casting her real-life boyfriend Being back on set reminded Rich of how much he loves acting. "The crew made it feel like the old Reba set because we were having a blast. They had as much fun as I did and that was really heartwarming for me. It felt like I was back home in a safe place," he said. "I was really well taken care of. It was a blessing. I want to go back so badly." 'I don't think I'll ever be exactly what I was before' Rich appeared in 2018's "The Christmas Trap" and spent some time away from acting, making his return in the 2021 streaming film "Spiked." Since his stroke, Rich has kept busy with philanthropy and work in "green energy." In promotional videos for medical clinics where he received treatment, Rich previously described undergoing stem cell treatments to "help heal the right side of my brain where the blood clot happened because it destroyed some of my brain." "My left side was completely frozen; I couldn't walk or use my left arm," he said in a clip for ReGen Clinics. The stroke happened in the middle of the night on Easter morning in 2018, he said in a video series for the Centre for Neuro Skills. Afterward, his voice sounded "abnormal," he had saliva leaking from the left side of his mouth and he struggled with his memory. "I don't think I'll ever be exactly what I was before, and I hope not, because this has been such a learning experience for me," Rich said.
